Underplating process from melange formation to duplexing: Example from the Cretaceous Shimanto Belt, Kii Peninsula, southwest Japan

Abstract

Accretionary complexes are considered to form through off scraping and underplating, which results in the lateral and vertical growth of an accretionary prism. Accretion of the upper part of the oceanic crust and the formation of melange are important components of the accretionary process, although the origin of melange is considered controversial. In order to better understand the origin of melange and its role in accretion, in particular during underplating, we have studied the relationship between the formation of melange and duplexing in the Miyama Assemblage. Here the melange is composed dominantly of shale, basalt, chert, and sandstone. This study stresses the following features: (1) the structure of the Miyama Assemblage appears to be a composite suite of landward and seaward dipping duplexes; (2) the melange fabric displays a systematic asymmetry, which may have resulted through shearing along the decollement; and (3) facing of horses within duplexes changes from north to south, coinciding with a change in the sense of shear inferred from the melange fabric, which suggests that it formed prior to duplexing.